Nova Scotia Highlanders

The Nova Scotia Highlanders (also known as North Novies, North Novas) is an infantry regiment in the primary reserve of the Canadian Army. It is part of 36 Canadian Brigade Group, 5th Canadian Division.

Creation

The regiment was formed in 1954 by the amalgamation of The North Nova Scotia Highlanders, The Cape Breton Highlanders, and The Pictou Highlanders and 189th Light Anti Aircraft Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery.

The regiment was composed of two battalions, officially designated as the 1st Battalion, The Nova Scotia Highlanders (North), and 2nd Battalion, The Nova Scotia Highlanders (Cape Breton), both of which were part of 5th Canadian Division's 36 Canadian Brigade Group.

The 2nd Battalion was headquartered in Sydney, and in 2011 it was de-amalgamated from The Nova Scotia Highlanders, to its pre-1954 designation, the Cape Breton Highlanders, becoming its own regiment. This leaves the Nova Scotia Highlanders as a one-battalion regiment. In April 2025, the regiment's motto was officially changed from to the former North Nova Scotia Highlanders' motto of (Scottish Gaelic for 'our footsteps will not allow us to go backwards').

The Nova Scotia Highlanders is headquartered in Truro with individual companies in Pictou, Springhill, and Truro.

Headdress

Although the 2nd Battalion continued the tradition of wearing balmorals, the traditional headdress of the regiment, the 1st Battalion did not. There was a strong movement within the unit by the majority of the troops to replace the beret with the balmoral once again as it marked out the highland unit as distinctive and showed the ties with the unit's heritage that contributed to its . As of 1 January 2011 the balmoral once again became the official headdress of the 1st Battalion as well. The khaki tam o' shanter is worn in combat dress.

Lineage

1st Battalion, Nova Scotia highlanders (North)

Originated in Truro, Nova Scotia, 6 April 1871 as the Colchester and Hants Provisional Battalion of Infantry
Redesignated as the 78th Colchester and Hants, or Highlanders Battalion of Infantry, 1 September 1871
Redesignated as the 78th "Colchester, Hants and Pictou" Battalion of Infantry or "Highlanders," 5 September 1879
Redesignated as the 78th Colchester, Hants and Pictou Regiment "Highlanders," 8 May 1900
Redesignated as the 78th Pictou Regiment "Highlanders," 1 March 1910
Redesignated as The Pictou Regiment, 29 March 1920
Redesignated as The Pictou Highlanders, 2 July 1920
Redesignated as the 2nd (Reserve) Battalion, The Pictou Highlanders, 7 November 1940
Redesignated as The Pictou Highlanders (Motor), 1 April 1946
Amalgamated on 12 November 1954 with The North Nova Scotia Highlanders and the 189th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, RCA and redesignated the 1st Battalion of The Nova Scotia Highlanders
On 9 December 2010 the 2nd Battalion, The Nova Scotia Highlanders (Cape Breton) was reorganized as a separate regiment and redesignated as The Cape Breton Highlanders, the 1st battalion was redesignated the 1st Battalion, Nova Scotia highlanders (North)

The North Nova Scotia Highlanders

Originated in Amherst, Nova Scotia, 6 April 1871 as the Cumberland Provisional Battalion of Infantry
Redesignated as the 93rd Cumberland Battalion of Infantry, 12 June 1885
Redesignated as the 93rd Cumberland Regiment, on 8 May 1900
Redesignated as The Cumberland Regiment, 29 March 1920
Redesignated as The Cumberland Highlanders, 15 June 1927
Amalgamated on 1 December 1936 with The Colchester and Hants Regiment (less 'C Company') and C Company of the 6th Machine Gun Battalion, CMGC (now The Princess Louise Fusiliers) and redesignated as The North Nova Scotia Highlanders (Machine Gun)
Redesignated as the 2nd (Reserve) Battalion, The North Nova Scotia Highlanders (Machine Gun), 7 November 1940
Redesignated as the 2nd (Reserve) Battalion, The North Nova Scotia Highlanders, 7 March 1941
Redesignated as The North Nova Scotia Highlanders, 1 May 1946.
Amalgamated on 12 November 1954 with The Pictou Highlanders (Motor) and the 189th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, RCA

Perpetuations

War of 1812

1st Battalion, County of Sydney Regiment
2nd Battalion, County of Sydney Regiment
1st Battalion, Cumberland Regiment
Parrsborough Corps It embarked for Great Britain on 12 October 1916 where it provided reinforcements for the Canadian Corps in the field until 20 January 1917, when its personnel were absorbed by the 17th Reserve Battalion. The battalion was disbanded on 18 February 1918.

Battle honours

The Nova Scotia Highlanders have received 47 battle honours and 1 honorary distinction since the unit's inception. In the list below, battle honours in small capitals were awarded for participation in large operations and campaigns, while those in lowercase indicate honours granted for more specific battles.

Photo gallery

File:Pictou Armouries.jpg|Colonel John Welsford MacDonald Armoury - A Company, Pictou, Nova Scotia

File:Springhill Armouries.png|Lieutenant Colonel Daniel J Murray Armoury - B Company, Springhill, Nova Scotia

File:Truro Armouries.jpg|Regimental Headquarters and C Company Armouries, Truro, Nova Scotia

File:NSH New Motto.jpg|Canadian Heraldic Authority approval for changing the motto. 15 April 2025

File:Canadian C9A1 LMG.JPG|Jesse Mackenzie, from 1st Battalion, Nova Scotia Highlanders (North), adjusts the sights on his C9 machine gun at the range

</gallery>

Armouries

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|- style="background: #f2f2f2; color: #000080"

! scope=col width="21%" | Site

! scope=col width="14%" | Date(s)

! scope=col width="9%" | Designated

! scope=col width="13%" | Location

! scope=col width="36%" class="unsortable" | Description

! scope=col width="7%" class="unsortable" | Image

| Colonel Welsford MacDonald Armoury

| 31 Union Street, Pictou, Nova Scotia

| *Housing The Nova Scotia Highlanders, A Company, this centrally located building has a flat roof

| Lieutenant Colonel Daniel J Murray Armoury

| 72 North Street, Springhill, Nova Scotia

| *Housing The Nova Scotia Highlanders, B Company, this centrally located building has a flat roof

| Truro Armoury

| 1874 Thomas Seaton Scott

| Canada's Register of Historic Places; Recognized - 1991 Register of the Government of Canada Heritage Buildings

| 126 Willow Street, Truro, Nova Scotia

| *Housing The Nova Scotia Highlanders, HQ and C Company, this centrally located box-like Dominion style Neo-Gothic style building with a flat roof was designed with classical inspiration.

Notes

References

Barnes, RM, The Uniforms and History of the Scottish Regiments, London, Sphere Books Limited, 1972.
No Retreating Footsteps: The Story of the North Novas by Will R. Bird (1955)
The Fighting North Novies: Into the Fire by Al Cameron
North Nova Scotia Highlanders by D.F. Forbes (1945)
Eighty-Fifth in France and Flanders Being a history of the justly famous 85th Canadian Infantry Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders) Jan 1 1920 by Lt-Col Joseph Hayes (Author)
Meek, John F. Over the Top! The Canadian Infantry in the First World War. Orangeville, Ont.: The Author, 1971.

External links

Blue Feather battalion by Q.M.S. Edgar E. Kelley,. O.R.C. 193RD Battalion
Nova Scotia Highlanders Regimental Museum